Aggregates Tax

Alex Salmond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been raised by the Aggregate Tax in each quarter of its existence in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise routinely publishes UK Aggregates Levy receipts at http://www.uktradeinfo.com in the Aggregates Levy Bulletin.
	A breakdown of Aggregates Levy receipts by UK region is not available separately.

Civil Servants

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assurances he obtained from Sir Nicholas Montagu that he would not be consulting with PriceWaterhouseCooper's clients on tax matters prior to granting him permission to join PWC.

Stephen Timms: Sir Nicholas Montagu complied with the requirements of the Business Appointment Rules, and applied for permission to take up his part-time appointment with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
	In submitting his application, he stated that he would not advise on tax matters.
	The appointment was approved under the Rules subject to the conditions that:
	He should not be personally involved in lobbying, on behalf of PWC or its clients, the Inland Revenue for one year from his last day of service, and Government Ministers or officials in other Departments for six months from his last day of service; and
	Acknowledging that it is not part of the job to which he is being appointed, he should stand aside from any discussion of, or giving advice on any tax related matters for two years from his last day of service.

Travel Costs

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total travel costs to her Department have been for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials for each year since 1997.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 9 December 2004
	All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in the Department's staff handbook and all Ministerial travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government has published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government has also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
	Travel costs of special advisers who accompanied the Ministers overseas are included in the annual list the Overseas Travel by Cabinet Ministers. Other travel costs of special advisers are included in the officials' travel costs on the Department's accounting system and can be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table shows expenditure on travel and subsistence by Ministers (domestic only) and officials in the Department from 1997–98 to 2003–04.
	
		
			   £ 
			 Financial year Ministers T and S (domestic only) Officials (overseas and domestic T and S) 
		
		
			 2003–04 19,483.31 473,483.91 
			 2002–03 24,719.22 479,690.78 
			 2001–02 17,386.39 411,227.86 
			 2000–01 31,931.38 366,112.06 
			 1999–2000 24,539.59 362,767.76 
			 1998–99 22,913.88 252,990.17 
			 1997–98 11,697.81 256,166.64

Departmental Advertising

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in which Muslim newspapers the Department advertises; and what kinds of advertising the Department places in Muslim newspapers.

Alun Michael: In 2004–5 Defra is placing advertisements in the publications as listed. On this occasion, the department's objective in doing so is to reach and inform specific communities rather than religious groups, but all these publications are acknowledged as having a Muslim readership:
	The Daily Jang
	The Nation
	Muslim News
	Muslim Weekly
	Notun Din
	Surma
	Janamot
	Potrika
	Bangla Post
	London Turkish Gazette
	Olay
	Al Arab
	Al Ahram
	All the advertisements placed have been translated into the languages most appropriate for the readers of these newspapers. The advertising has been planned to promote the latest phase of Defra's personal food imports awareness campaign, 'If in doubt, leave it out!'. This campaign is part of a long-term strategy to increase awareness of the personal imports rules among the UK travelling public and to reduce the quantities of illegal food products being seized at UK ports and airports.

Timber

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to fund the establishment and maintenance of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber.

Alun Michael: The UK central Government departments and devolved administrations have agreed that Defra should proceed to invite tenders for a service provider to set up and operate a central point of expertise on timber (CPET) help line. This will be Phase 2 of CPET and we plan to invite tenders in the spring of 2005.
	Defra has already commissioned consultants ProForest to operate a pilot help line. This is planned to finish by the end of March 2005 and will help Defra to draw up the contract terms and conditions for the full help line service.
	Bidders for the CPET help line will be invited to offer proposals that will include income generation through fees and charges. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent income generation is a viable proposition but the Government have earmarked funds to underwrite the service for its first three years.

Timber

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what projects local authorities are undertaking to reuse household wood.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 December 2004
	The Department does not hold information on all the projects local authorities are undertaking to recycle waste products such as household wood. However the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) "RecycleWood" programme does hold a map of self-nominated organisations that offer services and facilities for collecting and processing wood waste and this is available through WRAP'S website, http://www.wrap. org.uk/.

Waste

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairswhat measures she is taking to ensure that the polluter pays principle applies to the collection and management of municipal waste; which 10 local authorities have the (a) highest and (b) lowest recycling rates; and which political parties control each of these authorities.

Elliot Morley: Government applies the polluter pays principle to the collection and management of municipal waste by enabling local authorities to charge for the collection of commercial and industrial waste and bulky or heavy items of household waste. Landfill tax is payable on all municipal waste landfilled.
	The 10 local authorities with the highest and lowest recycling and composting rates in England are given in the following table, with percentages achieved for 2002–03, which are the most recent audited data available. The table also shows the current political control in these local authorities.
	
		
			  Local authority Percentage of household waste recycled and composted in 2002–03 1  Political Party in Control 2 
		
		
			 Daventry district council 44 Conservative 
			 Lichfield district council 43 Conservative 
			 Wyre borough council 33 Conservative 
			 Melton district council 31 Conservative 
			 Isle of Wight district council 31 No overall control 
			 St. Edmundsbury district council 30 Conservative 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead borough council 29 Liberal Democrats 
			 Forest Heath district council 28 Conservative 
			 Eastleigh borough council 28 Liberal Democrats 
			 Chiltern district council (joint 10th place) 27 Conservative 
			 Dorset county council (joint 10th place) 27 Conservative 
			 Kettering district council 4 Conservative 
			 North Tyneside council 4 Conservative 
			 Rochdale Metropolitan borough council 4 No overall control 
			 Corby district council 4 Labour 
			 Tower Hamlets London borough 3 Labour 
			 Bolsover district council 3 Labour 
			 Hackney London borough 3 Labour 
			 Sunderland city council 2 Labour 
			 Barking and Dagenham London borough 2 Labour 
			 Liverpool Metropolitan borough council 2 Liberal Democrats 
		
	
	(1) These data are published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and are available at www.bvpi.gov.uk. The level of household waste recycling and composting in local authorities is the sum of Best Value Performance Indicator 82a and 82b (percentage of household waste sent for recycling and composting respectively).
	(2) Information on party political control has been obtained from councils' websites or by direct contact with the authority.

Butler Report

Mark Prisk: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what action has been taken to address the recommendation in paragraph 585 of Lord Butler's Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction concerning the use of new information systems to bring together sources of expertise in Government on proliferation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what action has been taken to address the recommendation in paragraph 604 of Lord Butler's Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction that the intelligence community review their conventions; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what action has been taken to address the recommendation in paragraph 600 of Lord Butler's Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction concerning the size, resources and career structure of the Assessments Staff; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Straw) on 15 November 2004, Official Report, column 54WS.

Halloween

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fire-related (a) injuries, (b) accident and emergency attendances, (c) ambulance calls, (d) fire service call-outs and (e) police calls were reported over the Halloween period in the Province in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: The number of fire-related injuries, ambulance calls and fire service call-outs that were reported over the Halloween period in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years is detailed in the following table. Information about accident and emergency attendances by reason is not collected centrally and the number of police calls could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  (a) Injuries (b) Accident and emergency attendances (c) Ambulance calls (d) Fire service call-outs (e) Police calls 
		
		
			 2004 n/a n/a 29 3161 n/a 
			 2003 16 n/a 41 3582 n/a 
			 2002 21 n/a 41 2940 n/a 
			 2001 15 n/a 59 3697 n/a 
			 2000 11 n/a 57 2807 n/a 
			 1999 15 n/a 49 2944 n/a 
			 1998 24 n/a 68 n/a n/a 
			 1997 13 n/a 42 n/a n/a 
			 1996 11 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1995 14 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	n/a=not available
	Source:
	(a) Hospital Inpatient System; (c) Northern Ireland Ambulance Service; (d) Fire Authority for Northern Ireland.
	The Halloween period has been taken to be 11 October to 8 November in each year.
	Information for (a) relating to 2004 is not available.
	Information for (c) relating to 1995 and 1996 is not available due to changes in information technology systems.
	Information for (d) 1995–98 is not readily available.

Legislation

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what pieces of legislation passed in the last 30 years that the Department is responsible for remain to be brought into force, broken down by year of enactment.

Paul Murphy: pursuant to my reply on 1 December 2004 (Official Report, c. 138W
	The information provided contained some factual inaccuracies. The correct answer is as follows:
	The following list sets out a broad overview of Acts of Parliament from 1997 for which the Northern Ireland Office is responsible and parts of which remain to be brought into force. The following list does not include provisions which have never been in force and are now repealed or spent.
	The Northern Ireland Act 1998
	All in force, apart from
	Schedule 13 paras
	1—Minor and Consequential Amendments —Repealed (never in force)
	10—Minor and Consequential Amendments—Repealed (never in force).
	Sch. 13 paras
	16—Repealed
	18—Repealed
	Sch. 15—Repeals—Not in force, apart from in cases of exception mentioned in the schedule.
	Justice (NI) Act 2002
	Part 1
	S1—Guarantee of continued judicial independence—not yet commenced.
	S2—Introductory—not yet commenced
	S3—Judicial Appointments Commission—not yet commenced
	S4—Appointment to most senior judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S5—Appointment to listed judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S6—Removal from most senior judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S7—Removal from listed judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S8—Tribunals for considering removals—not yet commenced.
	S9(12)—Lay magistrates—not yet commenced
	S10—Transfer of functions of justices of the peace—not yet commenced
	S11—Transfer of functions of lay panellists—not yet commenced
	S12—Role of LCJ—not yet commenced
	S13—Presiding county court judge—not yet commenced.
	S14—Presiding resident magistrate—not yet commenced
	S15—Presiding lay magistrate—not yet commenced
	S16—Complaints about holders of judicial office—not yet commenced
	S20—Crown Solicitor—not yet commenced
	Part II
	S22—Attorney General—not yet commenced
	S23—Terms of appointment of Attorney General—not yet commenced
	S24—Removal of Attorney General—not yet commenced
	S25—Participation of Attorney General in Assembly proceedings—not yet commenced
	S26—Annual Report by Attorney General—not yet commenced
	S27—Advocate General—not yet commenced
	S28—Functions of Advocate General—not yet commenced
	S29—Public Prosecution Service—not yet commenced
	S30—Director of Public Prosecutions—not yet commenced
	S31—Conduct of prosecutions—not yet commenced
	S32—Discontinuance of proceedings before a court appearance—not yet commenced
	S33—Consents to prosecutions—not yet commenced
	S34—Police Complaints—not yet commenced
	S35—Information for Director—not yet commenced
	S36—Exercise of functions by and on behalf of Service—not yet commenced
	S37—Code for Prosecutors—not yet commenced
	S38—Equality and non-discrimination—not yet commenced
	S39—Reports by Director—not yet commenced
	S40—Superintendence and removal of director—not yet commenced
	S41—Transfer of functions etc—not yet commenced
	S42—Independence of Director—not yet commenced
	S43—Appointment and removal of Director by Attorney General—not yet commenced
	S44—Interpretation—not yet commenced
	Part III
	S50—Law Commission—not yet commenced
	S51—Duties of Commission—not yet commenced
	S52—Reports etc.—not yet commenced
	Part IV
	S53(6)—Aims of youth justice system—not yet commenced
	S56—Custody care orders—not yet commenced
	S63—Extension of youth justice system to 17 year olds—not yet commenced
	S64—Juvenile justice centre order for 17 year olds—not yet commenced
	S65—Consultation about detention—not yet commenced
	Part V
	S67—Flying of flags at court houses—not yet commenced
	S72—Local community safety partnerships—not yet commenced
	S73—Constitutional of rules committees—not yet commenced
	S76—Exceptional legal aid—not yet commenced
	S78—Power to abolish court service—not yet commenced
	Part VI
	S82—Excepted matters: new institutions—not yet commenced
	S83—Reserved matters: new institutions—not yet commenced
	S84—Assembly Acts about judiciary, law officers and prosecutions—not yet commenced
	S85—Minor and consequential amendments—not yet commenced
	S86—Repeals and revocations—not yet commenced
	Schedules
	S1—Listed judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S2—Judicial Appointments Commission—not yet commenced
	S3—Appointment to listed judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S4—Functions of justices of the peace—not yet commenced
	S5—Transfer of functions to LCJ—not yet commenced
	S7—Functions of Advocate General—not yet commenced
	S9—Law Commission—not yet commenced
	S11—Extension of youth justice system to 17 year olds—not yet commenced
	S12—Minor and consequential amendments—not yet commenced
	S13—Repeals and revocations—not yet commenced
	The Police (NI) Act 2003
	District Policing Partnerships
	Section 15 (1)—(5)—Independent members: declaration against terrorism—not in force.
	Section 16 (1)—Independent members: disqualification— not in force
	Section 19 (1)—Facilities establishment of Belfast district policing partnership's sub-groups and deals with their composition and functions.
	Police functions and Service
	Section 26 (1)—(3)—Protected disclosures by police officers—not in force.
	Searches and Samples
	Section 41 (1)—Intimate searches—not in force.
	Section 42 (2)—(5) Intimate samples—not in force.
	Schedule 1—Belfast—not in force
	Schedule 4—repeals and revocations—not in force apart from exceptions
	Justice (NI) Act 2004–12–14
	S1—Transfer to LC of functions relating to JAC—not yet commenced
	S2—Membership of the Commission—not yet commenced
	S3—Duty of Commission to secure judiciary reflective of the community—not yet commenced
	S4—Appointment of LCJ and LJs of appeal—not yet commenced
	S5—Removal or suspension from listed judicial offices—not yet commenced
	S6—Duty of the DPP to refer certain matters to police ombudsman—not yet commenced
	S7—Influencing a prosecutor—not yet commenced
	S8—Guidance for CJ organisations on human rights standards—not yet commenced
	S16—Court security—not yet commenced
	S1—Transfer to LC of functions relating to NI JAC—not yet commenced
	S3—Court security—not yet commenced
	S4—(partially)—Repeals—not yet commenced

Parliamentary Questions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what target his Department sets for the maximum acceptable time to respond in full to a parliamentary question; and what percentage of answers given by his Department failed to meet this target in each parliamentary Session from 1997–98 to 2003–04.

Charlotte Atkins: The effective handling of parliamentary questions is an issue to which I, and ministerial colleagues, attach great importance.
	This Department aims to answer named day questions on the day specified and ordinary written questions within five working days of them appearing on the Order Paper.
	The information provided is in respect of the period since the formation of this Department on 29 May 2002.

Road Traffic Accidents

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in what proportion of road traffic accidents the victim was (a) a pedestrian and (b) a cyclist in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by age.

David Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		Accidents involving at least one pedestrian casualty: GB 2003 Accidents/Percentage
		
			 Age group Number Percentage(3) 
		
		
			 0–15 12,235 43 
			 16–59 17,037 10 
			 60 + 4,926 19 
		
	
	(3) Accidents involving pedestrian casualties as a percentage of all accidents involving a casualty of that age group.
	
		Accidents involving at least one pedal cyclist casualty: GB 2003 Accidents/Percentage
		
			 Age group Number Percentage(4) 
		
		
			 0–15 4,685 17 
			 16–59 10,657 6 
			 60 + 933 4 
		
	
	(4) Accidents involving pedal cyclists casualties as a percentage of all accidents involving a casualty of that age group.

Special Advisers

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether departmental special advisers have made speeches in their official capacity since May 1997.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department was formed in May 2002. Since then, special advisers have not given any speeches in their official capacity. If speeches were to be made these would be conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct for special advisers.

Parliamentary Questions

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many written parliamentary questions tabled in the last Session of Parliament were answered by his Department with the response 'it has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation'.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 2 December 2004
	The total number of written questions that were answered with the response, "It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation" was 245. Of these, 171 were tabled in the five days leading up to prorogation.
	The Department did provide substantive answers to 496 parliamentary questions in the four days up to Prorogation.
	Ministers make every effort to answer questions substantively in accordance with performance guidelines and especially before Prorogation. However this is not always possible. Where right hon. and hon. Members did not receive a substantive response it is open to them to re-table their question this session.

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expenditure was by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which his Department is responsible on research and development work by organisations other than university departments, Government-funded research establishments or private sector companies in each year since 2001–02.

Adam Ingram: The following table shows total expenditure on R and D activity by (a) MOD with its trading fund agencies (which have been taken not to be Government funded research establishments) and (b) expenditure on R and D activity by the trading fund agencies themselves other than that undertaken by university departments, Government funded research establishments or private sector companies. This has been presented for the last two financial years for which data are available. Figures for 2003–04 will be published in 2005 by the Office for National Statistics in "Government Expenditure on Research and Development". The term "Department" has been interpreted as the MOD not including its trading fund agencies (ie ABRO, DARA, Met Office, DSTL and Hydrographic Office). This aligns with the MOD Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			 Trading fund agency £ million 
		
		
			 Departmental R and D expenditure with trading fund agencies—2001–02 1 
			 DSTL 276 
			 DERA(8) 173 
			 Met Office 16 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic Office 0 
			   
			 R and D expenditure by MOD trading fund agencies—2001–02 1,3,4 with other than universities, Government funded research establishments and private companies 
			 DSTL 0 
			 DERA(8) 0 
			 Met Office 0 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic Office 0 
			   
			 Departmental R and D expenditure with trading fund agencies—2002–03 1 
			 DSTL 296 
			 Met Office 15 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic Office 0 
			   
			 R and D expenditure by MOD trading fund agencies 2002–03 1,3,4 with other than universities, Government funded research establishments and private companies 
			 DSTL 0 
			 Met Office 0.2 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic Office 0 
		
	
	(7) Departmental expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £ million, sums spent by trading fund agencies have been rounded to the nearest £100,000.
	(8) On 1 July 2001 DERA was split into two organisations: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) (about a quarter of DERA) staying as a trading fund within MOD, and QinetiQ, the remainder, becoming a private (extramural) company.
	(9) Includes expenditure with Industrial Research Associations and small amounts with "others", ie non-profit institutions (such as charities) and individuals performing research but not as a business.
	(10) Expenditure by the Department with Industrial Research Associations and "others" is small and has been lost in the roundings.

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure on research and development was made by each agency sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001–02; and what percentage this represented of that agency's total expenditure in each year.

Adam Ingram: The following tables show total expenditure on external R and D contract activity by MOD agencies who are known to have spent moneys on R and D tasks, and the percentage that this represents in terms of total agency annual turnover. Agencies have been taken as referring to Trading Fund Agencies only. This has been presented for the last two financial years for which data are available. Figures for 2003–04 will be published in 2005 by the Office for National Statistics in "Government Expenditure on Research and Development".
	
		R and D Expenditure by MOD Trading Fund Agencies—2001–02 1,2
		
			 Trading Fund Agencies Expenditure on R and D (£ million) Percentage of agency annual turnover(13) 
		
		
			 DSTL/DERA(11) 141.7 28.4 
			 Met Office 1.0 0.6 
			 ABRO 0 — 
			 DARA 0 — 
			 Hydrographic Office(13) 1.8 3.7 
		
	
	(11) On 1 July 2001 DERA was split into two organisations: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (about a quarter of DERA) staying as a Trading Fund within MOD, and QinetiQ, the remainder, becoming a private (extramural) company.
	(12) Sums spent by trading fund agencies have been rounded to the nearest one hundred thousand pounds.
	(13) For UKHO the expenditure is expressed as a percentage of total operating expenditure excluding interest.
	
		R and D Expenditure by MOD Trading Funds Agencies—2002–03 1
		
			 Trading Fund Agencies Expenditure on R and D (£ million) Percentage of agency annual turnover(15) 
		
		
			 DSTL 73.4 21.4 
			 Met Office 1.3 0.8 
			 ABRO 0 — 
			 DARA 0 — 
			 Hydrographic Office(15) 2.1 4.0 
		
	
	(14) Sums spent by trading fund agencies have been rounded to the nearest one hundred thousand pounds.
	(15) For UKHO the expenditure is expressed as a percentage of total operating expenditure excluding interest.

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure has been made by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which his Department is responsible for research and development projects undertaken by overseas Government laboratories or research establishments, including collaborative Government-funded laboratories and research establishments in each year since 2001–02.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence welcomes collaboration with foreign partners where this will bring benefits to the United Kingdom. In these cases MOD seeks to align UK activities and those of other Governments for mutual benefit, rather than funding overseas bodies that conduct research. The exact breakdown of the total activity is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the central expenditure for facilitating international research collaboration over the period requested is provided in the following table. The figures for 2004–05 represent allocation rather than expenditure.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Financial year Expenditure 
		
		
			 2001–02 5.4 
			 2002–03 6.2 
			 2003–04 6.2 
			 2004–05 (16)6.3 
		
	
	(16) Allocation

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure was made by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which his Department is responsible for research and development projects undertaken by university departments and research centres in the UK in each year since 2001–02.

Adam Ingram: The following table shows total expenditure on R and D activity for (a) Ministry of Defence and (b) for MOD Trading Fund agencies with universities and/or research centres. This has been presented for the last two financial years for which data are available. Figures for 2003–04 will be published by the Office of National Statistics in "Government Expenditure on Research and Development" in 2005. The term "Department" has been interpreted as the MOD not including its Trading Fund Agencies (i.e. ABRO, DARA, Met Office, DSTL and Hydrographic Office). This aligns with the MOD Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  R and D expenditure with universities and research centres(17) 
		
		
			 2001–02  
			 Department 0 
			   
			 Trading fund agencies  
			 DSTL/DERA(18) 15.7 
			 Met office 0.8 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic office 0 
			   
			 2002–03  
			 Department 0 
			   
			 Trading fund agencies  
			 DSTL 8.2 
			 Met office 0 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic office 0 
		
	
	(17) Departmental expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £ million. Sums spent by trading fund agencies have been rounded to the nearest £100,000.
	(18) On 1 July 2001 DERA was split into two organisations: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (about a quarter of DERA) staying as a Trading Fund within MOD, and QinetiQ, the remainder, becoming a private (extramural) company.

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure was made by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which his Department is responsible for research and development projects undertaken by private sector companies in each year since 2001–02.

Adam Ingram: The following table shows total expenditure on R and D activity for (a) MOD and (b) MOD agencies which have been undertaken by private sector companies. This has been presented for the last two financial years for which data are available. Figures for 2003–04 will be published in 2005 by the Office of National Statistics in "Government Expenditure on Research and Development". The term "Department" has been interpreted as the MOD not including its Trading Fund Agencies (i.e. ABRO, DARA, Met Office, DSTL and Hydrographic Office). This aligns with the MOD Annual Report and Accounts.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  R and D expenditure with private sector companies(19) 
		
		
			 2001–02  
			 Department 1,525 
			   
			 Trading fund agencies  
			 DSTL/DERA(20) 126.0 
			 Met office 0 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic office 1.0 
			   
			 2002–03  
			 Department 2,412 
			   
			 Trading fund agencies  
			 DSTL 65.2 
			 Met office 0.4 
			 ABRO 0 
			 DARA 0 
			 Hydrographic office 1.1 
		
	
	(19) Departmental expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £ million, sums spent by trading fund agencies have been rounded to the nearest £100,000.
	(20) On 1 July 2001 DERA was split into two organisations: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (about a quarter of DERAP) staying as a Trading Fund within MOD, and QinetiQ, the remainder, becoming a private (extramural) company.

Pension Credit

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of the pension credit in each year from 2006–07 to 2011–12 if (a) the guarantee element of the pension credit is increased in line with earnings in each year after 2005–06 and the savings credit threshold is increased in line with prices, (b) the guarantee element of the pensions credit and the savings credit threshold are both increased in line with prices in each year after 2005–06 and (c) the savings and guarantee credits are increased in line with earnings.

Malcolm Wicks: Estimates for expenditure on pension credit under each of the uprating scenarios laid out in (a) to (c) are provided for each financial year from 2006–07 to 2011–12 in the following table.
	
		Table 1: Estimated expenditure on pension credit from 2006–07 to 2011–12 £ billion
		
			  (a) (b) (c) 
		
		
			 2006–07 7.2 6.5 6.9 
			 2007–08 8.0 6.8 7.6 
			 2008–09 8.7 7.0 8.1 
			 2009–10 9.5 7.3 8.7 
			 2010–11 10.0 7.5 9.5 
			 2011–12 11.0 7.5 10.0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for 2006–07 to 2009–10 are in billions and rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion. Figures for 2010–11 to 2011–12 are rounded to the nearest £0.5 billion to account for the degree of uncertainty in projecting this far ahead.
	2. Overall pensioner income is assumed to rise in line with average earnings.
	Sources:
	1. Figures for 2006–07 to 2009–10 are based on the Department's medium term forecasts for pension credit. The projections are based on the Department's QSE 5 per cent. administrative data.
	2. The figures for 2010–11 to 2011–12 are based on the Departments' policy simulation model and the FRS survey 2002–03 projected forward to the appropriate policy year.

Pension Credit

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are in receipt of pension credit in Telford; and if he will estimate how many are entitled to claim and have not done so.

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of people likely to be eligible for pension credit is not available at constituency level. However, we estimate that approximately 400,000 households in the West Midlands, corresponding to approximately 500,000 individuals (rounded to the nearest 50,000), are likely to be eligible for pension credit in 2004–05. Information on the number of pension credit recipients in the West Midlands and Telford is given in the table.
	
		Pension credit recipients—31 October 2004
		
			  Households Individuals 
		
		
			 West Midlands 271,860 375,600 
			 Telford 4,685 3,720 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.

Pensioners

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) male and (b) female pensioner recipients of (i) income support, (ii) the minimum income guarantee and (iii) pension credit there have been in each year since 1979.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is shown in the following three tables.
	
		Table 1: Pensioners in receipt of income support, Great Britain, 1979–98 Number
		
			  Total individual beneficiaries Male individual beneficiaries Female individual beneficiaries 
		
		
			 1979 2,039,000 488,000 1,551,000 
			 1980 1,974,000 466,000 1,508,000 
			 1981 2,034,000 482,000 1,553,000 
			 1982 2,089,000 501,000 1,587,000 
			 1983 1,920,000 434,000 1,486,000 
			 1984 1,944,000 442,000 1,502,000 
			 1985 n/a n/a n/a 
			 1986 1,973,000 437,000 1,536,000 
			 1987 1,988,000 450,000 1,538,000 
			 1988 2,002,000 534,000 1,468,000 
			 1989 1,843,000 464,000 1,379,000 
			 1990 1,925,000 502,000 1,423,000 
			 1991 1,788,000 448,000 1,340,000 
			 1992 1,872,000 484,000 1,388,000 
			 1993 2,048,000 552,000 1,496,000 
			 1994 2,082,000 575,000 1,507,000 
			 1995 2,067,000 584,900 1,482,100 
			 1996 2,045,100 584,300 1,460,800 
			 1997 1,985,400 565,700 1,419,700 
			 1998 1,911,800 546,500 1,365,300 
		
	
	n/a = Signifies data is unavailable.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Income support replaced supplementary benefit in April 1988.
	4. Up to and including 1987, pensioners are defined as claimants of pensionable age. From 1988 pensioners are defined as benefit units where either the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over.
	5. Unemployed claimants are included in the figures up to and including August 1996. Income support for the unemployed was replaced by income-based jobseeker's allowance in October 1996.
	6. Figures are based on sample data and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling error.
	7. All figures relate to a point in time. For 1979 the month of the enquiry was November, for 1980 to 1984 the month was December, for 1986 the month was February and for 1987 to 2004 the month was May.
	8. From 1999 income support for pensioners became the minimum income guarantee.
	
		Table 2: Minimum income guarantee recipients, Great Britain, 1999–2003 Number
		
			  Total individual beneficiaries Male individual beneficiaries Female individual beneficiaries 
		
		
			 May 1999 1,869,600 541,000 1,328,600 
			 November 1999 1,873,700 547,000 1,326,800 
			 November 2000 1,940,400 574,400 1,366,000 
			 November 2001 2,021,700 606,100 1,415,600 
			 November 2002 2,065,600 634,700 1,430,900 
			 October 2003 2,109,200 662,100 1,447,100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures from May 1999—November 2002 are taken from a 5 per cent. sample and are subject to a high degree of sampling variation.
	3. Figures from October 2003 are from a 100 per cent. sample.
	4. Individual beneficiaries include claimants and partners and may contain a small number of partners aged under 60.
	5. Minimum income guarantee was introduced in April 1999.
	6. Pension credit replaced minimum income guarantee from 6 October 2003.
	
		Table 3: Pension credit recipients, Great Britain, 2003–04 Number
		
			 As at October Total individual beneficiaries Male individual beneficiaries Female individual beneficiaries 
		
		
			 2003 2,247,605 712,105 1,535,500 
			 2004 3,199,040 1,073,170 2,125,870 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. Figures for October 2003 relate to 17 October 2003. Figures for October 2004 relate to the end of the month.
	3. Individual beneficiaries include claimants and partners and may contain a small number of partners aged under 60.
	4. Pension credit replaced minimum income guarantee from 6 October 2003.

Email

Francis Maude: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to introduce an automatic e-mail notification facility for all announcements and publications issued by his Department and those public bodies reporting to him.

Phil Hope: Most announcements and publications issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are placed on the info41ocal website—www.info41ocal. gov.uk which provides an automatic e-mail notification facility.
	There is also a separate facility on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website to subscribe to an e-mail alert for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's news releases—http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pns/newslist.cgi

Exeter University

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Treasury about the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision;
	(2)  when the governing body of the university of Exeter informed her Department about the proposed closure of its undergraduate chemistry provision;
	(3)  when her Department was informed about the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision;
	(4)  what representations she has had from (a) the Royal Society of Chemistry, (b) the South West Regional Development Agency, (c) companies operating in the South West and (d) others concerning the proposed closure of undergraduate chemistry provision at Exeter university; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  what discussions she has had with the Higher Education Funding Council about the proposed closure of undergraduate chemistry provision at Exeter university;
	(6)  if she will make a statement on the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision.

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision on the Government's 10-year Investment Framework for Science and Innovation;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision;
	(3)  what discussions she has had with the Higher Education Funding Council about the proposed closure of undergraduate chemistry provision at Exeter university;
	(4)  what representations she has had from (a) the Royal Society of Chemistry, (b) the South West Regional Development Agency, (c) companies operating in the south west and (d) others concerning the proposed closure of undergraduate chemistry provision at Exeter university; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  what action she proposes to take to prevent the closure of further undergraduate chemistry provision in universities;
	(6)  whether her Department has received reports of other university chemistry departments experiencing financial difficulty;
	(7)  if she will hold discussions with her ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education and Skills to seek to prevent the proposed closure by Exeter university of its undergraduate chemistry provision.

Patricia Hewitt: Officials in the Department were informed of the proposed closure of Exeter's undergraduate chemistry provision in early November by officials at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). DfES was advised informally by the Vice- Chancellor of the proposed closure in early November, prior to the formal announcement on 22 November.
	My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, has discussed this issue with both the Higher Education Minister at the Department for Education and Skills and the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
	Both my noble Friend and I have received representations from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Lord Sainsbury met with the Royal Society of Chemistry on 8 December. A small number of letters from other HE institutions, students, staff, and individuals have also been received. There have been no representations from either business or the South West Regional Development Agency.
	Higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous organisations and as such are responsible for their own academic direction and strategic use of funds. The decision to close undergraduate chemistry provision is therefore a matter for Exeter university alone. I understand that Exeter university is working very closely with students to ensure that all their individual needs are met. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will continue to monitor the situation closely.
	The Department has not received any reports of other university chemistry departments that may be experiencing financial difficulty.
	The quality of chemistry research in English universities has increased significantly. 50 per cent. of departments were rated 5 or 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) compared with only 20 per cent. in 1996. However, recognising concerns about future capacity to teach certain key disciplines, on 1 December the Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills wrote to HEFCE requesting advice on higher education subjects or courses of national strategic importance, including chemistry, where intervention might be appropriate to strengthen or secure them. HEFCE will be entering into a strategic dialogue with universities, colleges, employers and other partners to consider this matter.
	Science and innovation is one of my Department's key priorities: we will therefore continue to work closely with DfES, the Funding Councils and others to provide a robust, world-class research base, and delivering the Government's vision for science and innovation set out in the Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004–2014.
	Our Departments and the Higher Education Funding Council for England will continue to work closely together on this issue.

Departmental Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) new builds, (b) demolition rebuilds and (c) PFI projects in his Department for each of the last two years.

John Hutton: The capital value of national health service projects completed during 2003 and 2004 (as at 9 December 2004) is as shown in the table.
	
		
			£ million 
			  2003 2004 Total 
		
		
			 Publicly funded 279 442 721 
			 Private finance initiatives (estimated) 511 89 600 
			 Total 790 531 1,321 
		
	
	Detailed information is not held centrally for schemes with a capital value below £10 million. We do not make a distinction between new build or demolition rebuild.

Waiting Lists/Times

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients in (a) Solihull parliamentary constituency and (b) the Borough of Solihull have waited for more than six months for foot and ankle surgery in 2004.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 9 December 2004
	This information is not available in the format requested.
	The table shows the time waited for foot and ankle surgery for patients within Solihull Primary Care Trust, which includes residents from the Solihull constituency and the Borough of Solihull, during 2003–04.
	
		Waiting list and booked cases: count of finished in-year admission, distribution of time waited for foot and ankle surgery for Solihull PCT in national health service hospitals in England 2003–04
		
			  Foot and ankle surgery 
		
		
			 Time waited  
			 Under 3 months 72 
			 3 to 6 months 77 
			 6 months and over 23 
			   
			 Total admissions 173 
			 Mean days 151 
			 Median days 109 
		
	
	Notes:
	Ungrossed data
	Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data, i.e. that data are ungrossed.
	Time waited
	Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period, whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
	Finished in-year admissions
	A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.